I agree that Griffen is a player that must be resigned. He is more vital going forward than Brian Robison given the age difference.

Personally i feel Griffen should be starting over Robison. You are also spot on about the age difference IMO.

Not saying I would advocate this, but would Robison have any trade value? I realize it would hurt our depth and most likely add a need of DE. Thoughts?

I dont think you trade either of them. The depth is what makes the Dline so effective.

I hope the Vikes can keep all three DEs going forward, but chances are Robison will likely walk and the Vikes will look for a new reserve DE allowing Griffen to start. I am in the start Griffen camp as well.

If you trade Robison, you can just draft another DE to replace him.

If we could get a 3rd for Robison and get Margus Hunt, I'd be estatic._________________

I agree that Griffen is a player that must be resigned. He is more vital going forward than Brian Robison given the age difference.

Personally i feel Griffen should be starting over Robison. You are also spot on about the age difference IMO.

Not saying I would advocate this, but would Robison have any trade value? I realize it would hurt our depth and most likely add a need of DE. Thoughts?

I dont think you trade either of them. The depth is what makes the Dline so effective.

I hope the Vikes can keep all three DEs going forward, but chances are Robison will likely walk and the Vikes will look for a new reserve DE allowing Griffen to start. I am in the start Griffen camp as well.

If you trade Robison, you can just draft another DE to replace him.

If we could get a 3rd for Robison and get Margus Hunt, I'd be estatic.

You can draft another DE, but there is NO guarantee that he can "replace" Robison. If you look at the dominant defenses in the league, they aren't in the happit of trading away pass rushers. The Giants had Osi and Strahan and still drafted Tuck. Then they went and spent 1st Round picks on Kiwanuka and JPP. I'm all for drafting another pass rusher, but not if it means trading away one of our proven ones. Especially when you play any type of Cover 2 defense.

Trade Robison for a 4th or 5th rd pick just to take a DE in the 3rd rd. I dont think that is a truly effective strategy. In todays NFL you need to be deep at receiver, deep at CB and deep as pass rusher. Why make a strength of this team rather thin.

My strategy would be to extend Griffen this offseason while he should be somewhat cheap and extend Allen to lower his cap hit. Keep all three and then use a mid round pick on a developmental DE. The Vikes have done a good job in finding 4th rd DEs, why not grab another to sit behind Robison for a year and eventually replace Robison in 2014.

Anyone have any good names of talented pass rushers who could fall like Ray Edwards and Everson Griffen did. That is the type of players I would look to draft. A projected 2nd round pick who falls to the 4th round.

Anyone have any good names of talented pass rushers who could fall like Ray Edwards and Everson Griffen did. That is the type of players I would look to draft. A projected 2nd round pick who falls to the 4th round.

I like Quanterus Smith from Western Kentucky. He would have been in the conversation for the 1st round until he tore his ACL in November. Might not have an immediate impact while he regains his explosion, but could have great long-term value. He had 3 sacks against the highly regarded Alabama offensive line before he got hurt.

Anyone have any good names of talented pass rushers who could fall like Ray Edwards and Everson Griffen did. That is the type of players I would look to draft. A projected 2nd round pick who falls to the 4th round.

I like Quanterus Smith from Western Kentucky. He would have been in the conversation for the 1st round until he tore his ACL in November. Might not have an immediate impact while he regains his explosion, but could have great long-term value. He had 3 sacks against the highly regarded Alabama offensive line before he got hurt.

Another name could be Cornellius Carradine. Carradine has first rd talent but with his injury could fall. The Vikes could take a chance on him in round 4 as the fourth DE while he receovers in 2013, making room for him to have a bigger role in 2014 as a reserve DE/DT.

Carradine could even be put on PUP to start the year, allowing the team to hang onto Reed, who I do like as well.

As long as Gerald Hodges and Brandon Williams still have 4th round grades, I'd much rather go with them than a 4th DE.

All depends on what the team does in the other three rounds. The team also has two fourth round picks. I would be comfortable adding a DE in the middle of the draft considering that all three DEs have expiring contracts beyond 2013.

Phil Loadholt has witnessed the ups and downs of the NFL like few others. As a rookie, the Vikings came within an eyelash of the Super Bowl. Just two years later, he witnessed the worst season in franchise history in a 3-13 debacle of a season. He has seen the heights and the depths of the franchise, but, with the team on the upswing, he is hoping that his agent and the Vikings can land a deal that will keep him in purple for the next several years.

Loadholt: “You could say that I’ve seen a lot in just four years. My rookie year was great because there was so much excitement around us when we got on a run. Last year was pretty much the opposite of that. But both of them taught me a lot about doing my job to the best of my ability to help the team. We made a lot of improvement this season and have some young guys on the line that will be part of the Vikings for a long time. I’m excited about being a part of that. I would love to be a part of it because I think we have a team that can do some big things. Hopefully the guys upstairs feel the same way and we can get a deal done. If I have my way, I’m back here next year. I’ve been here for four years and this feels like home. Hopefully we will get something done, but you never know until it gets done. This is a business."

Anyone have any good names of talented pass rushers who could fall like Ray Edwards and Everson Griffen did. That is the type of players I would look to draft. A projected 2nd round pick who falls to the 4th round.

I like Quanterus Smith from Western Kentucky. He would have been in the conversation for the 1st round until he tore his ACL in November. Might not have an immediate impact while he regains his explosion, but could have great long-term value. He had 3 sacks against the highly regarded Alabama offensive line before he got hurt.

Another name could be Cornellius Carradine. Carradine has first rd talent but with his injury could fall. The Vikes could take a chance on him in round 4 as the fourth DE while he receovers in 2013, making room for him to have a bigger role in 2014 as a reserve DE/DT.

Carradine could even be put on PUP to start the year, allowing the team to hang onto Reed, who I do like as well.

Would not surprise me at all if John Simon dropped in the draft. He is the definition of a tweener.

He looked awful during the linebacker drills at the Senior Bowl. He is way too stiff in coverage to be anything more than a pass rushing OLB in a 3-4 scheme. The thing is even in a 4-3 scheme, he will be limited as a LDE (in my opinion).

Still I would take him just because he is the hard working type like Ellison was last year. Those types seem to make it on the field even if they are not what the scouts are drooling over._________________